Alex Segura and Michael Moreci are mainstays in the comic book community. Between Segura's outstanding work on The Archies and The Black Ghost and Moreci's sci-fi epics Roche Limit and Wasted Space, both creators have earned their reputations for producing fan-favorite stories. Now, they have teamed up for a new superhero mystery series titled The Awakened -- released exclusively on the new comics platform Zestworld.
Having released comics both traditionally and digitally in the past, Segura and Moreci decided that Zestworld was the best fit for their latest project. CBR recently spoke to the creators to learn more about Zestworld, the changing digital comics landscape, and the complicated power dynamics in The Awakened.
CBR: First off, why choose Zestworld as the platform for The Awakened?
Alex Segura: Chris Giliberti, Zestworld's CEO, reached out to me fairly early on in their process and asked if I had any creator-owned projects that might be a good fit for ZW. Michael and I had been working on The Awakened for years, along with creative consultant Chantelle Aimée Osman and artist Dean Kotz, and we really wanted to see it come to life. So, like most projects, it was more a question of timing and the deal being a good fit. Once we discussed the particulars, we realized Zestworld would be the perfect home for the digital launch of the series.
Zestworld feels inspired by Webtoon, which has obviously been a worldwide success. Do you think Western comics creators should have embraced this type of short-form digital storytelling earlier?
Segura: I think a lot of the digital platforms have a lot of similarities and key differences. It all boils down to content, I think. People will go to the places that have the stories they want to read.
Michael Moreci: It's kind of impossible to say. If we all had a crystal ball, 20/20 vision, etc., we'd know what decisions to make all the time. That would be great. But, really, all we can do is put out the best stories we can in the best way possible and find ways to get everyone compensated for their work.
With Substack, ComiXology Originals, Zestworld, and other publishing platforms, don't you think there's a chance the audience might get lost in all these options or is it simply about the creators having to do more to ensure their readers know where to find them?
Segura: I don't see it as a negative -- I think it's actually amazing that creators have so many [more] options now, in terms of actualizing their stories, than they did 20, 10, or even five years ago. The challenge of getting noticed is a perennial problem across all publishing -- trying to figure out how to cut through the noise. But the first and biggest challenge is telling a good, compelling story, and that's what we've set out to try and do with Dean, Jason Wordie our colorist, letterer Jim Campbell, Chantelle, and our editor Brian Cunningham.
Moreci: Do people ask this when they're making shows for Netflix, Prime, or Hulu? I've never seen it. It's not our job to figure out where readers are going to go for their comics, or their books, or their television shows, etc. I feel like we're being asked to adopt comics to a Webtoon model sooner but then chastised when there's maybe too much of that very thing. We're here to tell stories that we're passionate about to the best of our abilities. There's no guarantee a story won't get lost publishing with Image, Boom, Vault, or whatever other print publisher -- plenty do, every single week.
Moving on to The Awakened, what separates this from other similar stories where superheroes are rubber-stamped by governments? What makes this tale stand out?
Segura: Well, it's exactly that -- this isn't just a story about a government super team's adventures. That's certainly the backdrop, and I think readers will take some comfort in the familiar there. But at its heart, The Awakened is about the quest for power -- and whether having power makes you a hero. High concept-wise, it's a murder mystery in the world of super-heroes, where readers can see somewhat familiar archetypes tweaked and changed to fit the story and stand on their own. But the heart of the story -- through the maze of a murder mystery -- is about how different people react when granted the gift of power, even if they're all labeled "heroes."
While most 21-page comic book issues end with a hook to entice readers to buy the next issue, the nature of Zestworld's format suggests that there needs to be a cliff-hanger every two to five pages to keep them invested for the next installment. How challenging is it to write for this type of format?
Segura: We're writing the story traditionally. We always envisioned this as a comic that could work in print and digitally. So when you're reading it as a whole, you're not going to get a chopping feeling, like a cliffhanger on every page. What we're doing is parsing out the scenes so you feel engaged and interested enough by reading those sequences that you want to get to the next one and learn more about these characters. That's the hope, at least!
How has working in the Zestworld format changed the process of organizing each chapter?
Segura: I have to give a big shout-out to Brian [Cunningham], our editor, who has been instrumental in not only captaining our ship but carving up the issues so each digital "issue" feels like a meaningful bite of story, as opposed to a preview you'd see elsewhere. The idea is to tell the story we want to tell, understanding the various formats we want to see it live in, whether it be digital, print, and so on.
Finally, is there any chance of The Awakened being collected in a graphic novel format in the future?
Segura: That's always been part of the plan, and I hope we can announce some details very soon about The Awakened in print!
The Awakened is currently being serialized exclusively on Zestworld.